Resources

Background Material

Relevant Submissions to the Universal Periodic Review Process of the United Nations Human Rights Council

Briefing Paper on Conscientious Objection

Material on Legal Cases

Global War Tax Resistance

An Annotated Bibliography

Resources for Peace

Surveys

Military Recruitment and Conscientious Objection: A Thematic Global Survey

  • The research reported in this paper was conducted in 2005 by Derek Brett, representative of CPTI to the United Nations in Geneva, and was funded by a grant from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.   The Quaker United Nations Office, Geneva, made a substantial contribution to printing costs to allow the production of a longer report than had initially been anticipated.
  • View online | pdf version(2MB) in A4 | pdf version(2MB) in US Letter

“Refusing to Bear Arms: a worldwide survey of conscription and conscientious objection to military service”

  • A comprehensive directory of military service laws and practice in 179 countries around the world. It was originally published on paper by WRI's Conscription and Conscientious Objection Documentation Project (CONCODOC) in November 1998. The entries for countries in the Council of Europe were updated in 2005. wri-irg.org/co/rtba/
     

Reports of Events

The Human Right Not to Pay for War

  • UN Church Center 25 March 2004
  • Moderator: Rosa Packard
  • Presenters: Marian Franz, Vice Chair, Conscience and Peace Tax International, introduces the video Committed to Conscience explaining the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund Bill and comments on international campaigns for similar human rights legislation.
  • Bill Perkins, Deputy Majority Leader of the New York City Council discusses support for this human rights issue through a local city council resolution
  • Shulamith Koenig, Founder, Peoples Movement for Human Rights Education International “Winner of the UN Human Rights Prize-2003-” discusses relevant individual and collective efforts to protect human rights
  • Sponsored by
  • The International NGO Committee on Human Rights and
  • The NGO Working Group on Conscientious Objection
  • View the Transcript | pdf version (US Letter format) | pdf version (A4 format)

Alternatives to War:  Increasing Our Peacemaking Abilities

  • A presentation by Michael True and respondent panelists presented May 31, 2003 in Greenwich, Connecticut.
  • Sponsored by CPTI, Peace Action of Connecticut, Promoting Enduring Peace, and the Greenwich Forum
  • View the transcript | pdf version (US Letter format) | pdf version (A4 format)

The Human Right of Conscentious Objection

  • A panel discussion presented by the NGO Working Group on Conscientious Objection
  • The United Nations, New York 20 February, 2003
  • View the transcript | pdf version (US Letter format)

Educating Youth About Their Human Right of Conscientious Objection

  • Panel Discussion at the Third Preparatory Committee for the Special Session on Children
  • United Nations, New York, June 12, 2001
  • View Transcript | pdf version (US Letter format)
     

Other Educational Material

Peace Kit

  • Never Again: Peace Education and Remembrance Day, Jan Slakov, 291 pages, 45-minute CD, ©2004 Grades K-12, 29.95 Canadian dollars (+ 20% surcharge for non-BCTF members, excluding Education students in BC)
  • available through the British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) Lesson Aids service lacatalogue@bctf.ca,
  • catalogue # LA 9338
  • Address: BCTF Lesson Aids Service, 100-550 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 4P2
  • phone: (604) 871-1848
  • or 1-800-663-9163 (local 1848) www.bctf.ca/Teachingresources.aspx?id=6414
  • This kit includes lesson plans for a variety of levels, from K-12, mostly in English, some in French.
  • It also includes a 45-minute audio CD of peace songs and a CBC radio documentary about the Christmas truce of WW 1. The lessons are designed to promote appreciation for the many cultures and other wonders of our beloved planet and also to promote critical thinking in this time of crisis with many people, from local students to foreign authors, having contributed to it.
  • In this International Decade for the Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World, it will help teachers and others promote nonviolence as a positive force, not just an absence of violence. The author/editor, Jan Slakov, hopes to continue to refine and develop the kit with the help of others who send in comments and ideas and to share much of the material informally, by e-mail js@saltspring.com (250) 537-5251, in order to make it as widely available as possible.
     

Conferences